willife – BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

July 27th – Pottering along the canal on the way to work through Bentley Bridge, I noticed this juvenile heron; I can’t tell if it’s the same one I spotted a few weeks ago, but it’s clearly hunting well.

Quite bold and determined I wouldn’t disturb it’s fishing activities, the bird kept an eye on me but didn’t flinch when I stopped to take a photo or two.

I love these mad looking birds and like the deer, I can’t believe we have them now; it’s a sight I marvel at as I’d never have seen these on the canals when I was a child. A real sign of environmental improvement.

January 25th – On the way to work at dawn on a cold morning. There was patchy ice on the canal, but not enough to impede the swans as they scudded toward Silver Street, presumably for food from fellow dawn commuters and walkers. Dawn had wrapped a gentle pink shroud over proceedings, which was lovely.

The light is creeping back into life, tentatively, slowly.

It’s most welcome.

February 8th – Up at Chasewater, another sunny but hazy afternoon. The atmosphere was lovely, but the trails and cycleways were very, very muddy and the going quite hard. The deer didn’t seem to mind though, and a small group were on the wettest part of the north heath clearly enjoying the marsh.